


The Fifth Leaf

by AvaCelt



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Confessions, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaCelt/pseuds/AvaCelt
Summary: Asta plans to keep his promises, no matter where the road might take them. [romantic Asta/Liebe, post-canon, angsty fluff]
Relationships: Asta/Liebe (Black Clover)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27
Collections: IAmStoryteller's Best of Black Clover Fic Rec





	The Fifth Leaf

**Author's Note:**

> Oh laaaaaaaaawd we fluffin'. Enjoy the gay bois; remember to leave a review :'>

Asta doesn't expect to say it so abruptly. He's imagined candles, food, and Charmy-paisen's best mulled wine. There are flowers in the forest that Liebe likes to pick, and Asta's imagined picking a few himself so he can give Liebe a bouquet at the moment of his confession. He's thought about it enough times that at least fifty scenarios actively churn in his head at any given moment, but no moment has ever seemed right, and Asta didn't want to impose.

But it's funny how things work out.

They're on their way back to the base one rainy afternoon when Liebe trips on a broken cobblestone, and almost goes tumbling over the side of a bridge. Finral-senpai shrieks and Zora jumps to catch the reeling demon, but Asta's quicker, so he has one strong arm around Liebe's waist before Liebe can even process what's just happened. Once they're both steady on their feet, it dawns on Asta how perfectly Liebe fits inside his embrace. He's just the right height for Asta to smell the natural musk of his hair and skin. The leathery hide of his black wings press against Asta's chest as he unconsciously pulls Liebe closer.

“I'm fine,” Liebe clips, prying Asta's arm off his waist before dragging himself back to the rest of the party. Asta can feel Finral-senpai and Zora's pitying stares, but it occurs to him that pity is all he'll ever receive if he keeps his feelings to himself. They're already walking away by the time Asta snaps back to reality. He catches up easily, heavy boots slapping against wet stone and rainwater. Liebe is trudging along at the rear because he's exhausted.

He refuses to get in the grimoire to rest, because there's nothing inside but darkness.

Asta grabs the demon's wrist and gently pulls him back a few steps so that they're trailing a safe distance behind Finral-senpai and Zora. Zora pretends not to notice and pushes ahead to meet Finral-senpai's pace. Asta silently thanks the older man and gives Liebe a wide grin, which Liebe counters with a deep scowl.

“What!” Liebe snaps, because Liebe is exhausted from the day's work and just wants to rest, but has no place to do so because they still have to get home and the grimoire is only for the direst of emergencies, and battle fatigue isn't dire enough for the demon to return to the book he was trapped inside for ten years.

Asta's eyes soften and he feels his heart swell with love. He doesn't have the flowers, the candles, or the sweet wine, but he has Liebe.

“You’re the only thing that matters,” Asta tells him, and Liebe's scowl fades into a look of bafflement.

Asta gives him a soft peck on his cheek, and before the demon can protest, he hoists the latter onto his back. Liebe has no choice but to lock his arms around Asta's neck, or risk dangling off his back. Asta laughs out loud as Liebe cusses into his ear and demands he be let off because this isn't some power combo they're attempting, Liebe doesn't _need_ to be carried like some fragile bird, he's a force of nature, thank you very much.

Asta just laughs it off, lets the cold rain wash against his face because despite the gloomy sky, his heart is full. He's going to get the flowers when they get back, after he's tucked Liebe into the top bunk. He's also going to ask Charmy-paisen to make them a pot of soup and heat up some wine, so that he can properly tell Liebe everything that he's carrying in his chest.

Liebe quiets down eventually. Asta is just a little disappointed because Liebe's deep, scratchy voice is like a hymn carved into a piece of wood. It's heavy, and it carries a lot of weight, and he knows Liebe is not used to speaking much, but when he is, Asta feels at peace.

He remembers the first time he'd awoken inside his subconscious. A great black monster had appeared and he'd almost screamed his way out of his own mind because of how hideous and imposing that creature had been. Now that same monster rests his cheek against Asta's shoulder. Asta feels a little guilty for having judged so quickly, but not for long. He can't shame the younger, dumber him, because love is a process, many layers of effort, and as difficult as kneading the perfect loaf of bread. Asta knows their lovestory isn't exactly by the book, but Asta had accepted that the day he'd decided to propose to Sister Lily for the last time. She'd said no, and he'd accepted her answer, and then he'd admitted to the older woman that he'd wanted to try one last time before he moved onto the new love budding in his chest. She'd given him her blessings.

“Don't say things like that if you don't mean it,” Liebe hisses abruptly in his ear. “It's cruel.”

Asta remembers the promise he made Sister Lily that day eight months ago after she'd rejected him for the last time.

“I meant every word,” Asta hums back. “I'll take care of you for the rest of our lives, Liebe. I'll never back down, no matter what the world throws at us.”

Liebe stiffens on his back. He knows Liebe doesn't trust easily, but he'll have to trust Asta, because Asta means every word.

“When I go to Hell, will you walk with me?” Liebe asks coldly, as if testing him.

Hell is the Underworld beneath the surface where hatred and humanity come together to form demons. In Hell, there are hierarchies just like the ones in Clover. Hell is where Liebe was born, beaten, and raised. Hell is where he was expelled from for some monster's entertainment, and Hell is where Liebe will return to after he exacts his revenge against Lucifero.

In a way, Hell is home. It's the the house at the edge of the precipice, just steps from plunging into the ocean below. It's where Liebe will return to with newfound strength and conviction because there's a nation _Liebe_ has to save, and it's a nation living in chains beneath their feet.

Asta thinks about the promise he made Sister Lily.

“Yes,” he tells the demon he's carrying on his back. “I'll walk with you until there's no where left to go, because you're the only thing that matters.”

“Big words coming from such a shortcake,” Liebe guffaws.

“You're just as tiny as me!” Asta whines, though the smile never leaves his face.

Liebe lets out a giant snort that devolves into a cackle. Asta laughs with him, warm to the core, even though rain slicks his skin, and the sky's slate grey up above.

“I'll hold you to it,” Liebe says finally.

“And I'll be right beside you, holding your hand,” Asta says cheekily, which earns him a bonk on the head. Asta whines at the growing bump on his head while Liebe stifles his laughter into Asta's neck, and Asta's heart swells, because _this_ is how it feels to be in love, how it feels to be complete.

Because every word he's uttered is true. He'll walk down to the Underworld with Liebe hand-in-hand, because Liebe's walked by his side since the grimoire forced them together, and at the end of the day, love is a two-way street. Sister Lily had asked him to promise her one thing on the day he'd proposed to her for the last time. When the time came to choose between the world and his other half, she'd asked him to choose his heart.

Asta doesn't know when that day will come, but the answer's on his back, snickering into his neck while they approach the Black Bull's base. Because in the first leaf there is faith, while hope lives in the second. Love lives in the third, and the fourth brings good luck. The legends say the fifth leaf carries humanity's hatred, but the legends couldn't be more wrong.

In the fifth leaf lives Asta's heart, his love – his Liebe.

* * *


End file.
